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They did this last summer and it caused a slew of headaches. They received enough complaints about overcrowding to revert back to 6 cars. This only works if headways are 7 minutes on red/gold lines. I'm all for it, but I don't think the ridership is there yet.

It's in the I-20 East Plans. Unfortunately I'm not quite sure the ones posted online go into that level of detail, but at one of the public meetings, I asked and verified that Bankhead would be expanded. But it's silly to think they would run 2-car trains all the way to Stonecrest.

It's in the I-20 East Plans. Unfortunately I'm not quite sure the ones posted online go into that level of detail, but at one of the public meetings, I asked and verified that Bankhead would be expanded. But it's silly to think they would run 2-car trains all the way to Stonecrest.

I thought the I-20 East Plans extended the Blue Line, or are they keeping the current Blue Line and making the extension all Green trains? That'd be kinda nice actually, give Green trains somewhere more to go.

Do you guys think express trains would work on MARTA? For example, an airport red line express train going north would only stop at College Park, Five Points, Peachtree Center, Midtown, Lindbergh, Buckhead, Sandy Springs, and North Springs. This would reduce the time for airport commuters, and the idea can also be used for other routes.

Do you guys think express trains would work on MARTA? For example, an airport red line express train going north would only stop at College Park, Five Points, Peachtree Center, Midtown, Lindbergh, Buckhead, Sandy Springs, and North Springs. This would reduce the time for airport commuters, and the idea can also be used for other routes.

Maybe, but an express train wouldn't need to stop at the first station (College Park) or at stations too close together (Peachtree Center and Five Points). Then Midtown, Lindbergh, Buckhead and the rest should be fine.

Maybe, but an express train wouldn't need to stop at the first station (College Park) or at stations too close together (Peachtree Center and Five Points). Then Midtown, Lindbergh, Buckhead and the rest should be fine.

I included College Park because of parking, but I can understand with them being too close.

I thought the I-20 East Plans extended the Blue Line, or are they keeping the current Blue Line and making the extension all Green trains? That'd be kinda nice actually, give Green trains somewhere more to go.

The plan all along is to extend the physical tracks from Indian Creek which of course right now is the Blue line. But then the service will consist of the Green Line extended from Candler Park to Stonecrest except that Green Line trains will make all stops Stonecrest to Indian Creek, then only Kensington, Decatur, then all stations Georgia State to Bankhead, essentially becoming an express service on the existing E/W line (see below).

Quote:

Originally Posted by demonta4

Do you guys think express trains would work on MARTA? For example, an airport red line express train going north would only stop at College Park, Five Points, Peachtree Center, Midtown, Lindbergh, Buckhead, Sandy Springs, and North Springs. This would reduce the time for airport commuters, and the idea can also be used for other routes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeTarheel

Maybe, but an express train wouldn't need to stop at the first station (College Park) or at stations too close together (Peachtree Center and Five Points). Then Midtown, Lindbergh, Buckhead and the rest should be fine.

It sounds nice, but the issue is MARTA only has two tracks to work with, and you're talking about a third service on top of the Red/Gold line essentially. So while it would certainly be nice, I don't think it will happen on the N/S service. If Atlanta ever gets a dedicated transit funding source, I wouldn't mind if some of that were used to build two more tracks through the core even if it was just Five Points to Arts Center, though I'm not sure it is worth having the express trains skip any of the core stations. What I would really do first however, assuming the Red Line extension is built, is to run the trains express from North Springs to Lindbergh, then all stops to at least Five Points and either transfer to a local for airport service, or continue with the local traffic to the airport, though it may need a third track to handle all the terminating trains.

That's not to say you can't have express service with just two tracks however, SEPTA's Norristown High Speed Line runs three classes of service (Local/Limited/Express) on only two tracks. It just requires careful timing, basically launching an express just ahead of a local and timing the express to only "catch up" with the local in front of it. I know MARTA was confident it could be done with the 15 minute headways, but I don't know if it is still possible with the 10/12 minute headways.

The plan all along is to extend the physical tracks from Indian Creek which of course right now is the Blue line. But then the service will consist of the Green Line extended from Candler Park to Stonecrest except that Green Line trains will make all stops Stonecrest to Indian Creek, then only Kensington, Decatur, then all stations Georgia State to Bankhead, essentially becoming an express service on the existing E/W line (see below).

It sounds nice, but the issue is MARTA only has two tracks to work with, and you're talking about a third service on top of the Red/Gold line essentially. So while it would certainly be nice, I don't think it will happen on the N/S service. If Atlanta ever gets a dedicated transit funding source, I wouldn't mind if some of that were used to build two more tracks through the core even if it was just Five Points to Arts Center, though I'm not sure it is worth having the express trains skip any of the core stations. What I would really do first however, assuming the Red Line extension is built, is to run the trains express from North Springs to Lindbergh, then all stops to at least Five Points and either transfer to a local for airport service, or continue with the local traffic to the airport, though it may need a third track to handle all the terminating trains.

That's not to say you can't have express service with just two tracks however, SEPTA's Norristown High Speed Line runs three classes of service (Local/Limited/Express) on only two tracks. It just requires careful timing, basically launching an express just ahead of a local and timing the express to only "catch up" with the local in front of it. I know MARTA was confident it could be done with the 15 minute headways, but I don't know if it is still possible with the 10/12 minute headways.

Good to know about the green/blue lines. It would be nice to have have 4 tracks for a variaty of resons, but the cost of re tunneling, platforms, and flyways would be insane for that.

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